LANDOVER, Md. — Dan Quinn stationed himself near the 30-yard line and just watched. And waited.

After a very brief handshake with Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni at midfield, the Commanders’ coach monitored the rest of the postgame handshakes from afar, just to make sure the frustrations that flared moments earlier on the field didn’t resurface. With two games left in a season that has gone sideways, Quinn knew his already thin roster couldn’t afford to get any thinner, because of injury or illness — or potential suspensions.

“I know how quickly we’re going to play again,” he said. “So, I just wanted to make sure that if I had to step in that I’d be able to bring my bouncing skills back.”

This is where the Commanders are: 4-11 following a chippy 29-18 loss to the Eagles that featured a brawl, the disqualification of three players (two Commanders) and four more Washington injuries, including to quarterback Marcus Mariota.

“I felt like, man, this is not the time to lose somebody postgame into a game just five days away,” Quinn added. “It’s one thing to say the poise, but it’s another thing when you’re the person in that moment.”

The emotions that boiled over after Washington squandered a 10-7 halftime lead had as much to do with the game as they did about the Commanders’ season. Flashes of solid play and even improvement, followed by an unraveling.

“Eagles vs. Commanders, man, that’s how it goes, you know what I mean?” receiver Terry McLaurin said. “It gets physical. It gets testy.”

This one culminated with about four minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, when the Eagles scored two unanswered touchdowns to all but seal a win and the NFC East title. Sirianni opted to try for 2 following Tank Bigsby’s touchdown run, telling reporters afterward that after doing “the math,” the Eagles decided it was a safer bet to attempt to pad their lead instead of settling for the extra point. So, running back Saquon Barkley, who had a 48-yard to set up the score, ran around the left side to put the Eagles up by 19. Barkley had 132 rushing yards in the win, including a 12-yard touchdown run earlier in the fourth quarter. Sixty-three of his yards came after six missed tackles by the Commanders, according to Next Gen Stats.

“To go up 18, we did the math and said hey we wanted to be able to make sure we were up 19,” Sirianni told reporters. “We thought it was a little bit better. That way they could only tie you with a field goal and two 2-point conversions — two touchdowns and 2-point conversions. We were already up three scores. We wanted to make sure we went up that way, just in case. That was what our math told us in that particular case and that’s what we did, and we went and executed.”

The “math” set off a massive fight that featured multiple punches by multiple players, at least six thrown flags, the loss of one official’s hat and a near-guarantee that the lingering animosity will spill over into the teams’ next meeting, on Jan. 4.

The brawl appeared to begin with Commanders safety Will Harris and receiver Darius Cooper, who got into a shoving match immediately after the conversion. That prompted Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil to join the fray, which led to Eagles guard Landon Dickerson and tackle Fred Johnson stepping in too, along with Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne. It escalated when Eagles lineman Tyler Steen swung at Sainristil and safety Quan Martin, both of whom swung back.

“I saw some 300-pound guys taking shots at Mike, so I’m like, ‘Shoot, I gotta protect my guy,’” Martin said. “Offensive linemen taking shots at a DB. So I was like, I just gotta protect my guy.”

Asked what prompted him to get involved, Sainristil offered a similar response.

“I don’t know,” Sainristil said. “I just saw my brothers out there so I’m going to do everything to protect my brothers.”

Javon Kinlaw jumped in and landed a punch on Steen, and before long, a swarm of Commanders players was tackling Steen to the ground, with Martin emerging from the scrum with a green Eagles helmet in hand.

Linebacker Jordan Magee eventually joined the affair, chirped at Barkley, then threw his helmet on the sideline after teammates led him off the field.

“Honestly, I just saw my guys getting jumped on,” Magee said. “I just saw red jerseys over there and went over there.”

Veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner tried to play peacemaker, pulling Barkley and Jalen Hurts away from the pack as “Big Dom” — Dom DiSandro, the Eagles head of security — took the field.

Eagles and Commanders players scuffle during the first half of Philadelphia's win over Washington.

Tensions were already running high in the second quarter of the Eagles’ win over the Commanders. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)

“Bobby Wagner did a really good job of making it make sense to me in that moment too,” Barkley told reporters. “You get two or three punches at a helmet, hopefully you don’t break a hand just to say you’re a tough guy — it’s not really worth it. And you lose a lot of money too.”

But the Commanders lost plenty. Along with Steen, Martin and Kinlaw were both ejected and face the possibility of suspensions and fines from the NFL ahead of their Christmas Day meeting with the Cowboys.

The lingering anger in the Commanders’ locker room afterward was palpable. Quinn and others had already reminded the players of the implications: more fines, more damage to a fragile roster. So they remained tight-lipped.

What they didn’t say, however, spoke louder.

“Um, I think they were mad at a lot of things during the game,” Magee said when asked if the Eagles’ 2-point conversion sparked his teammates’ ire. “But (the Eagles) beat us fair and square. So, we’ll see them in two weeks.”

The Commanders’ frustration was evident throughout the game, at times because of the officiating, at other times because of the Eagles’ decisions, and at other times still because of their own play.

Quinn pointed to his team’s 20 percent conversion rate on third down as one of the biggest issues in the loss. Missed tackles that led to extra yardage for Philly was certainly another.

Losing Mariota to a hand injury early in the second quarter proved especially costly; third-stringer Josh Johnson threw an interception shortly after taking the field, and the Eagles turned it into a score.

In the final minutes, the Commanders also lost tackle Brandon Coleman to a shin injury, while guard Sam Cosmi and defensive tackle Johnny Newton were evaluated for concussions.

“No one in our locker room is talking about who we don’t have or who wasn’t there,’ Quinn said. “It was about how we’d go win it and that was really the only thing on our mind.”

With Mariota’s status uncertain for Thursday’s game against Dallas, and the list of injured players growing longer by the week, Washington’s slow limp to the end of the season continues.